


The Message beach scene rewrite (comic script)

by Summer_Lime



Series: Comic Scripts for Animorphs Gender AU [1]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: ? - Freeform, ? I guess?, Alien Biology, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Book 4: The Message, Comic Script, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, I'm planning a comic series-ish thing, Nonbinary Character, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rewrite, Screenplay/Script Format, Xenobiology, and since I work in traditional art, anyway gender is weird and aliens should be weird so hey, but this is the closest tag there is, he's not trans though sorry, how is that not a tag when xenolinguistics is, i'm mostly working backwards this is my first ao3 post, if I don't plan ahead I'll have to redo the whole thing every time I mess up, it's still for kids, just an alien, not exactly but that's the tag, okay so this isn't a prose fic, so any critique is extremely helpful, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25220074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summer_Lime/pseuds/Summer_Lime
Summary: This is a non-final draft of a script for a comic. The comic is now available on my tumblr! Link to it in the author's notes.Gender and sex are weird, even on Earth. Why should aliens with greatly different biology and culture than ours have the same gender roles as a western-centric view of humanity? Sex isn't binary, and gender's a social construct, so let's have some aliens who reflect that.
Series: Comic Scripts for Animorphs Gender AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861939
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	The Message beach scene rewrite (comic script)

**Author's Note:**

> Remember these kids are in the 90s, so they have that 'boy or girl' mentality. Nonbinary folks weren't exactly the most visible back then (heck, they're not all that visible now)
> 
> [edit:] Okay so because of how ao3 formats text, anything using less-than and greater-than as brackets is disapearing, so I'm using {these} now
> 
> [new edit:] Find the final version of this at https://summerlimeismethebrony.tumblr.com/post/627726989696073728/all-seven-pages-together-this-sure-was-a-wild

[Opening shot of the Animorphs on a beach, discussing something. ]

Second panel is of Cassie, wearing a sweatshirt and jeans over a swimsuit, saying, “I think he should come to my farm. It's not so different from the Dome Ship. Fields, meadows, woods, all the way into the national forest land. He’d have to be careful, but it's the only place we have to hide him.”  
[LOOKS THOUGHTFUL. HAND ON CHIN(?) ]

Third panel cuts to Marco, who says, “That still doesn’t deal with how we’re going to get him there. People are gonna notice a blue deer with extra eyes and a scorpion tail.”  
[ HANDS ON HIPS, HALF-LIDDED EYES, AND SMALL FROWN. ONE BROW TILTED. ]

FOURTH: Ax, a runner Andalite juvenile, saying in a thoughtspeach-box, {I must morph.} [ EYEBROW-SPOTS ARE SET IN A DETERMINED EXPRESSION ]

FIFTH: Rachel, in a black leotard [putting on her jacket], and with a straight back, says, “Yeah, but into what?” [ TILTED HEAD, LOOKS TO BE AT A LOSS ]

Sixth and seventh panels(first divergence from canon): Ax walks up to Cassie, holds their hand up near her bicep, and says,{With your permission.} [ FIRST IS A SLIGHTLY WIDE SHOT OF AX'S LEGS WALKING. SECOND IS A SIDE-VIEW OF CASSIE AND AX, FROM HER RIGHT AND THEIR LEFT, WITH AX'S RIGHT ARM HOVERING NEAR HER BUT NOT QUITE TOUCHING ]

EIGHTH: Back to Marco, looking concerned.  
[ MARCO HAS KNITTED BROWS AND A SMALL FROWN. HIS ARM IS HALF-RAISED IN THE AIR, AS IF IN A CLASSROOM ]  
He asks, “Um….excuse me, but you’re going to morph Cassie? Can you do that?”

NINTH: [ AX, LOOKING STARTLED, ARM PULLED BACK TIGHTLY, WITH EARS ALMOST FLUSH TO THEIR NECK ] {Apologies. I did not explain fully.}

TENTH: [ AX IS MORE RELAXED NOW. THEIR EARS ARE STILL LOW, BUT IN A WAY THAT LOOKS GENTLER THAN BEFORE ]  
{I wish to perform a Frolis Maneuver. I will absorb your DNA, and mix it together to form a single morph. A new human. I believe this would be the best way to navigate your society without suspicion.}

ELEVENTH: Jake, wearing sports wear, asks, “Is everyone okay with this? Ax, does it have to be everyone?”  
A thoughtspeach-box answers,{No, Prince Jake, but the more DNA I have, the less my morph will look like any of you.} [ JAKE IS LOOKING AROUND HIM, CHECKING HIS TEAMMATES. HIS BROWS ARE SLIGHTLY KNITTED, AND HIS FROWN IS SHALLOW ]

TWELFTH: [Wide Shot of the Animorphs, Cassie and Marco look thoughtful, while Jake looks slightly uncomfortable, and Rachel has an accepting smile.]

THIRTEENTH: Rachel says, “Let’s do it. It's not like he’s going to morph us, right? More like our kid.”  
[ SHE IS SHRUGGING SLIGHTLY, WITH A LOPSIDED SMILE ]

FOURTEENTH: [Jake looks even more uncomfortable as she says that. GRIMACE, MAYBE SOME SWEAT.] FIFTEENTH: Pan to Cassie, saying, “Rachel’s right. It’s fine if we give permission.”  
[ DETERMINED SET TO HER BROWS. CHEEK BUMP SMILE THING ]

SIXTEENTH: Marco says, grinning, “Well, I’m in. You should have at least one attractive person contributing.”

SEVENTEENTH: [Rachel pushes Marco jokingly in the midground, while Jake talks in the foreground.]  
“Uh, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Sure, Ax, you can have our DNA.”  
[ JAKE IS SELF-CONSCIOUSLY SCRATCHING AT HIS CHEEK OR NECK. NERVOUS SMILE, SLIGHT DIP TO CLOSEST EYEBROW ]

EIGHTEEN THROUGH TWENTY-ONE: [four partial panels of Ax gently touching each Animorph’s left bicep as he acquires them. ]

TWENTY-TWO: [Marco, rubbing his eye sleepily:] “Hey, uh, Ax? Are you gonna be a boy or a girl? ‘Cause, this could be kind of awkward.”

TWENTY-THREE: [AX'S EAR TWITCHES. BROW-SPOTS CLOSELY KNIT. THEY LOOK CONFUSED.] {Apologies. My people have not interacted with Humans much, and so not all words translate fully. ‘Boy’, and ‘girl’. These are terms for Human young, correct?}

TWENTY-FOUR: Cassie steps up, and says, “Um, sort of. He means, are you male or female?” TWENTY-FIVE [Ax’s face lights up a bit in understanding] {Ah, yes, these are the Human sexes, correct? I am neither male nor female. I am an Andalite runner.} TWENTY-SIX: Tobias asks, {What do you mean, neither? You can do that? What’s a ‘runner’?}

TWENTY-SEVEN: [ FULL BODY SHOT, AX SHIFTS UNCOMFORTABLY ]TWENTY-EIGHT: [ EARS LOWERED MID-RANGE, EYES HALF-LIDDED, AX SIGHS ] {I suppose you would not know.} TWENTY-NINE: [ AX HAS A NEUTRAL EXPRESSION NOW, AS IF RECITING A TEXTBOOK ] {Runners are one of five sexes, with a higher endurance on average, as well as an identifying coat pattern.}

THIRTY: [ EYES HALF-LIDDED DOWNWARD, EARS DRAWN BACK SLIGHTLY. ONE EYE SLIGHTLY MORE SQUISHED, AS IF GRIMACING ] {Please do not ask about it further, it is embarrassing.}

THIRTY-ONE: Marco looks a bit surprised, but says, “Alright, sure, fine. Whatever. We still have the question of whether you’ll be a guy or a girl when you morph.”  
THIRTY-TWO: Cassie looks concerned, and says, “And what pronouns to use.”  
[ KNIT BROWS, SLIGHT FROWN ]

THIRTY-THREE: Jake looks around, worried, “We can worry about that stuff later. Ax, just morph, and we’ll go from there. Everyone turn around, just in case.”  
[ EYES WIDE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE MAIN BEACH, HANDS OUTSTRETCHED AND FACING DOWNWARD ]

THIRTY-FOUR: [BACK OF AX'S HEAD IN FOREGROUND, OFF-CENTER, THE OTHER ANIMORPHS BACK-TO AND FURTHER AWAY]  
Ax starts morphing. [ UNSURE HOW TO DEPICT THIS. THOUGHTS? ]  
[They are an androgynous thirteen-year-old child, slightly more feminine, with ear-length hair and light brown skin.]

THIRTY-FIVE [PLACEHOLDER?]: {I am fully morphed. I do not know if this body is male or female.} [ CLOSE-UP OF AX'S FACE LOOKING DOWN, MAYBE SOME SHOULDER. ]

THIRTY-SIX: Jake says, still turned around, “Alright, Ax. In the pile of clothes there is an extra pair of boxers and a sweatshirt.”  
Cassie adds in, “The one with four openings goes over your head, and your arms go in the side tubes. Sit down when putting on the one with three openings, they go over your legs and you pull them up as far as they’ll go.”

THIRTY-SEVEN: [Wide-shot of the Animorphs standing uncomfortably, while out of shot Ax fumbles about with their clothing.]  
[ RUSTLING ONOMATOPOEIA OUTSIDE PANEL ]

THIRTY-EIGHT: [Close-up of Ax’s face, disgruntled, as they attempt at English]  
“I hhhhav-v-ve the art-i-fi-ci-all clo-thing on my persson.”

THIRTY-NINE: [The Animorphs mid-turn, seeing Ax]  
[Rachel is smiling]  
[ MARCO IS HOLDING IN LAUGHTER ]

FORTY: [ AX IS SITTING WITH FEET IN. THEIR SHIRT IS RUMPLED AND BACKWARDS. BOXERS ARE INSIDE-OUT (MIGHT NOT BE VISIBLE) ]

FORTY-ONE: Rachel says, “Not bad for a first try. Let me help,” while she strides over.

FORTY-TWO: [Rachel tucking Ax’s arm into the sweatshirt’s sleeve.]

FORTY-THREE: [Rachel is helping Ax turn their shirt, as they look around wildly.]  
“How do you look? Lookuh. LooKuh. KUH. How do you look around? Ound. Ow, ow, ownd, behind?”

FORTY-FOUR: [Cassie grins at Ax, playing with their new morph.]

FORTY-FIVE: [Tobias, a red-tailed hawk, looks over his shoulder at them.] {Alright, everybody good now? Some couple is coming up the beach.}

FORTY-SIX: Jake looks at Ax, who's stumbling, and says, “Yeah, let's get out of here.”

FORTY-SEVEN: Cassie holds onto Ax’s elbow, saying, “Ax? Don’t talk to any strangers on the way home, okay?”

**Author's Note:**

> Note the gender thing wasn't my idea, but I was given permission to run with it. original post by @friendshiptothemax is at https://summerlimeismethebrony.tumblr.com/post/615046469912772608/friendshiptothemax-obviously-i-will-love (plus my now-out-of-date drawings and a few notes)
> 
> Hey y'all, please please please comment whether you liked it or not, and how to improve. I don't really have anywhere else to get critique, even saying a certain piece of dialogue feels clunky is a big help


End file.
